Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini insists Mario Balotelli does have a future at Etihad Stadium despite Thursday’s training bust-up.
The enigmatic Italian striker was photographed tangling with his boss during training, but the City manager has played down the latest incident and insisted Balotelli will get many more chances at the club despite suggestions he should leave.
“My thoughts don’t change, “Mancini said. “I will give him another 100 chances if I think he can change. I give him another chance, sure, because he is 22 and he can do a mistake.”
Mancini tried to play down the incident which came after Balotelli’s tackle on team-mate Scott Sinclair during a practice match,
“We were playing a game and Mario kicked his team-mate and I said to him: ‘Go inside, leave the pitch’. He said ‘no’, and I took his shirt and push him off the pitch,” Mancini said.
“This is what really happened. There is no fight. The photo is worse than what happened. It wasn’t a bad thing like [it looked] in the papers.”
However, Mancini said Balotelli needed to change his ways, stating he is a difficult player to manage.
“The problem could be himself. He doesn’t change, for him it will be very difficult in the future: for him, not me,” Mancini said.
“Mario could stay with me one day, one month, five years but his problem is himself. He is 22 years old. He needs to change. It is not easy to manage him.”